Overview
Throwing an Ender Pearl teleports you to wherever it lands, and that single mechanic solves more problems than any other item in the game. Crossing a ravine, scaling a cliff face, getting through a one-block gap in a stronghold wall, escaping a cave-in, reaching an end city across a gap — all of them become one throw. The price is 5 points of fall damage on arrival, which is two and a half hearts and is ignored entirely if you have Feather Falling boots or land in water, and a 1-second cooldown between throws. Pearls travel on an arc like a snowball, so throwing at a distant target means aiming high; throwing straight up and running is a classic way to break a mob's line on you. They also pass through nether portals, and a pearl thrown into a portal will teleport you through it. Beyond travel, 12 pearls plus blaze powder become the Eyes of Ender that find and open a stronghold portal, so no End trip happens without a stack. Endermen are the main supply, but piglin bartering gives a steady trickle without night-time enderman hunting.
Instant vertical and horizontal travel, emergency escapes, and the raw material for eyes of ender — which is the only way to locate a stronghold and activate the end portal.
Ender Pearl is a crafting material item in Minecraft Java Edition 1.21.4. The stack limit is 16, so plan inventory space. You get it by killing Enderman.
It also turns up in chests in Stronghold. It goes into exactly one recipe: Eye of Ender.
How to get it
Endermen drop 0 to 1 pearls, up to 4 with Looting III. Piglins barter 4 to 8 pearls for a gold ingot at around a 2% chance per trade, and stronghold and end city chests contain small stacks.
Tips
- Land in a single water source block or wear Feather Falling boots and the 5 points of teleport damage disappear entirely.
- A pearl thrown at a wall you cannot see over will drop at its base — aim at the top edge instead.
- Keep at least 16 pearls before an End trip: 12 become eyes of ender and the rest cross the outer-island gaps.
- Pearls do not work through solid blocks; if the landing spot is enclosed, you are placed on the nearest free surface outside.
Properties
One inventory slot holds 16, so a double chest holds 864.
- Stack size
- 16
- Renewable
- Yes
- Category
- Materials
Dropped by
1 mobs drop Ender Pearl: Enderman. Looting raises the maximum on most of them.
Found in
Ender Pearl is in the loot tables of Stronghold.
- Stronghold — A sprawling underground maze of stone brick corridors, spiral staircases, storerooms, prison cells and libraries, and the only place the End portal exists.
Used to craft
Ender Pearl is an ingredient in 1 recipes, producing Eye of Ender.
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you make Ender Pearl in Minecraft?
Ender Pearl has no crafting recipe — it drops from Enderman.
What is the stack size of Ender Pearl?
Ender Pearl stacks to 16.
